


Family

by missingparentheses



Series: Prompt-Inspired Rhinky Drabbles [7]
Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Adoption, Childbirth, Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-11
Updated: 2017-08-11
Packaged: 2018-12-14 03:32:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11774610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missingparentheses/pseuds/missingparentheses
Summary: Rhett and Link anxiously await the birth of their baby.





	Family

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a prompt by an anonymous Tumblrite: "Could I get a little Rhink with a baby or waiting for a baby? I'm not sure why but so need that in my life right now."
> 
> This was written a little while back and shared on Tumblr, but it just occurred to me to bring it over here. Enjoy!

“Don’t be nervous.”

Rhett can’t stop moving. He’s not usually the one with boundless nervous energy, but Link’s getting dizzy watching him pace a rut into the waiting room floor.

“Does it always take this long?”

Link shrugs. “All I know is what I’ve seen on movies and TV, which I’m pretty sure isn’t totally accurate. At least that’s what my mom said.”

“Do you think they’re okay?”

“They probably would have told us if anything was going wrong.”

Rhett stops in his tracks. “What if they don’t call us in in time?”

“She said they would, Rhett.”

“But what if she changes her mind? I mean, she might decide she doesn’t want us looking at her—”

“She might. If she does, we’ll still have a baby in the end. Try to relax, babe.”

Rhett runs his hand through his hair and takes up his pacing again. He’s so absorbed that he doesn’t see the nurse approaching until he hears Link hop to his feet. The initial alarm fades when they see the small smile on her face.

“She’s been pushing for forty-five minutes,” the nurse tells them. “She’s starting to crown, so if you guys want to come on in…” All they can do is nod enthusiastically as she waves them on. Halfway down the hall she asks, “You guys ever seen a birth?”

“We watched some videos online,” Rhett tells her. “Didn’t want to be surprised and pass out.”

She chuckles. “Good idea. It can be intense, but it’s pretty amazing.”

When they reach the room, the nurse knocks lightly on the door. The room inside is quiet, and as the door opens she announces in a gentle, sing-songy tone, “I’ve got two excited daddies-to-be here!”

“Come on in, guys,” a tired, familiar voice beckons from behind a hanging curtain that divides the room. They step around the curtain to see their baby’s birth mom resting on her left side, facing the doorway. Her doula, a middle-aged woman they’d been introduced to earlier, is standing on the far side of the bed stroking mom’s hair. The mom smiles at them and opens her mouth to speak when suddenly her face changes.

“Oh god, here it comes again,” she gasps, wrapping her arm around her right thigh and pulling it in toward her side. Her doula grips the raised right foot and aids her in holding the leg up as a low moan fills the air, and the men’s eyes go wide as their gaze is drawn down her body. The sound roars through the air and wraps around them before drawing into the mother’s chest again. They watch in awe as she takes the energy in her lungs and sends it deep into her body, down into her perineum where it responds and opens wide, revealing a patch of dark, matted hair.

“Oh gosh,” Rhett gasps under his breath, reaching out for Link’s hand without tearing his eyes away from the first sight of their child. Link squeezes back in answer as his own eyes fill with tears.

“You got this, sweetie,” comes the murmur of the midwife where she crouches low on a stool at the foot of the bed, gloved hands carefully guiding the gentle stretch of skin. When the contraction ends, the mom opens her eyes and meets the tear-filled ones before her.

“Hey,” she says, and the chuckles that spill out of them sound almost like sobs. She laughs back. “You two alright? Not gonna pass out on me?”

Link shakes his head. “Are  _you_  okay?”

She smiles. “Yeah. I’m good. Thanks for—  _ohh…”_  She curls into her body as a fresh wave approaches, and their eyes drop down again. The baby moves faster this time, the mother’s body opening wide as a roar rips from her throat. The dark hair is followed by tiny ears, a wrinkled forehead, pudgy round cheeks and a button nose. The mom gasps as the baby's head slips free, takes a halting breath, and pushes with all her might, slipping the rest of the smooth pink skin from her body in a rush of warm water. Rhett turns his head at the sound of Link’s barking sob escaping his throat, and he reaches for him, wrapping his husband in his arms as they watch their daughter take her first breath.

The doula props pillows behind the mom’s back as she presses herself up into a semi-sit. The baby is laid on her now-soft belly where she’s dried and checked over, a warm towel draped over her vernix-coated skin. For long moments, Rhett and Link hear nothing but their own heartbeats and the soft, mewling cry of their child. Blue eyes open to the dimly-lit room, and they feel it, the soul that was meant to be under their care, the family they were always meant to be.

“Congrats, daddies,” the midwife says, glancing away from the baby for only a moment. “Who wants to cut the cord?”

Rhett squeezes Link once more and presses a kiss to his hair. “We’ll do it together.”

**Author's Note:**

>  
> 
> _  
> [Visit me on Tumblr and send me a prompt!](https://missingparentheses.tumblr.com/ask)  
>  _  
> 


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